Hofland Sprints to Victory in Stage 3 of Tour of Utah

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Hofland Sprints to Victory in Stage 3 of Tour of Utah

Moreno Hofland (Team Belkin-Linksys) struck again in the 2014 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Wednesday. After having already sprinted to victory in stage 1, he also triumphed in Wednesday's 190 kilometer stage three and crossed the finish line in front of Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida) and Eric Young (Team Optum-Kelly Benefit) in the Miller Motorsports Park.

"Again the lead-out was perfect," said a grateful Hofland. "With two laps to go, the United Healthcare team was in the front. We were able to profit from that. When we entered the final lap, we moved up next to them and we accelerated and left them behind. Thanks to Dennis van Winden, Jetse Bol and Robert Wagner, I was able to start the final corner in perfect position."

"The win in stage one gave us a lot of confidence and today we applied the same formula. The fifth stage could also end in a sprint, so we’re going to do our best in that one too."

Team Belkin-Linksys Sports Director Erik Dekker said "After hard work from all eight team members, it came down to the last 1500 meters, in which Moreno claimed the win and Wilco sprinted to fifth after playing bodyguard in Moreno’s wheel."

The general classification favorites will be put to work in Thursday's stage four of this year's Tour of Utah. The riders will have to tackle the North Ogden Divide climb twice before finishing on the steep Powder Mountain.

"It’s going to be a very important day," explained Dekker. "We’ll see how good everyone really is. We haven’t been able to see that yet, although we know the qualities of our own Wilco (Kelderman) and a few others. Wilco finished fifth today and seems to be fine."

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